President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian resigns

President Armen Sarkissian has announced his resignation. The President has issued a statement, which reads, in part:

“In the early 1990s, with major geopolitical changes, our people were given the greatest opportunity to establish their own independent state. Our mission was not to replace one flag with another, but to build a country that would ensure the security, progress, and prosperity of Armenians again centuries later.

I emphasize that the main meaning of the existence of an independent state is the ability to assume and bear responsibility, when we realize that only we, as a single body, are the builder of our own victories, the culprit of our own defeats.

Encouraged by such a historic opportunity, I, like many of my compatriots, dedicated myself to that mission. For various reasons, my participation at various stages changed, but I did not stop believing in our ultimate national success. And that was my main motivation for agreeing to the proposal to become the President of Armenia.

Making this important decision, I proceeded from the proposal made to me, according to which the new presidential institution will have tools, opportunities to influence foreign policy, economic, investment policy, relations with the Diaspora, as well as to promote national interests in the international arena, new scientific and educational and to create a high-tech environment.

Some time later, 2018 took place. April-May events …

The question may be, why did I not resign at that time? The answer is obvious, because of the responsibility I took on as President of the Republic. I was obliged to do everything in my power to avoid further deepening of the internal division, possible clashes, which could lead to extremely negative consequences. I sought to use the prestige and connections gained through my many years of work to use my international political and economic potential to build a strong, stable state.